In Port Chester on Friday, the Capitol Theatre was really the perfect venue for this band. After a superb opening set by Alejandro Escovedo (coming soon), Los Lobos took the stage to a very engaged crowd. There was none of the persistent yapping you hear at other shows. This was a seated and attentive crowd that Los Lobos acknowledged from the outset. The band took their time working their way into this show with an early run through some classics before they welcomed Alejandro out for a couple of numbers. It was an extended and well played version of "The Neighborhood" that kicked this show into another gear. David Hidalgo's blues guitar riffs were showcased during an incendiary 14-minute "Just A Man" before the fan favorite "Kiko" brought the crowd to their feet for the remainder of the show. The band gave a nice acknowledgement to Jerry Garcia (the venue's side bar is called "Garcia's") before the performance of the set-closing "Bertha", a song Los Lobos covered all the way back in 1991 for the Deadicated compilation. - [NYC Taper]

Together for over 40 years, legendary LA band Los Lobos continue strong and remain a force live. Their current tour hit the NYC area for a show at Port Chester's Capitol Theatre last Friday (3/6) for a nearly two-hour show spanning their entire career, plus a cover of The Grateful Dead's "Bertha." (They're playing a Jerry Garcia tribute in Maryland in May. They spoke a little about Jerry Garcia beforehand, too.) Pictures and setlist are in this post. You can stream a couple recordings from the show (via NYC Taper) below, and download the whole show over his way.

Opening the show was Alejandro Escovedo where he played a duo set with violinist Warren Hood. His set came from the many acts his career has taken (The Nuns, Rank and File, solo work and more). Alejandro also joined Los Lobos for a few songs during their set. Pictures from his set are below.

Los Lobos' tour continues next week on the West Coast. They be back in the NYC area for Croton, NY's Clearwater Festival in June. All dates, plus more pics, setlist and concert recordings from the Cap, below...

There's already insane demand for the three Chicago shows that surviving Grateful Dead members Bob Weir, Phil Lesh, Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann are reuniting for, so perhaps some of that excitement will carry over into this Jerry Garcia tribute happening two months earlier in Maryland.

The tribute includes all four of those members -- Mickey and Bob solo, Bill with his band Billy & the Kids, and Phil with his band Communion (featuring Stu Allen, Grahame Lesh, Ross James, Alex Koford, And Jason Crosby) -- as well as Bruce Hornsby, who's also playing at the Chicago shows. Though they're billed separately, maybe all the band practices they've been having will result in some collaborations too?

In other Dead news, Real Estate side project Alex Bleeker and the Freaks, who just took part in a Dead tribute in Brooklyn, have announced that they'll also play a Dead set at Woodsist Festival on May 18 in Big Sur, CA. That fest is also with Real Estate, Woods, White Fence, Peaking Lights, Little Wings, Simon Joyner & the Ghosts and more TBA. Tickets are still available.

Croton, NY's annual two-day folk fest Clearwater Festival returns this year from June 20-21. The initial lineup has been announced, including Neko Case, The Felice Brothers, Guster, Ani DiFranco, Bela Fleck & Abigail Washburn, The Blind Boys of Alabama, The Lone Bellow, Los Lobos, Tom Paxton, Bettye LaVette, Joseph Arthur, The Felice Brothers, The Mavericks and more, plus still more TBA. Tickets are on sale now, and children 12 and under get in for free.

Diamond Rugs -- the supergroup featuring John McCauley & Robbie Cowell of Deer Tick, Ian Saint Pe formerly of Black Lips, T. Hardy Morris of Dead Confederate, Steve Berlin of Los Lobos and Bryan Dufresne of Six Finger Satellite -- will release the followup to their 2012 debut LP, Cosmetics, on February 24 via Sycamore Records/Thirty Tigers/RED. The bar-rockin' first single "Voodoo Doll" can be downloaded above, and various pre-order bundles are available here. Artwork and tracklist below.

Diamond Rugs have also announced a tour in support of the new record with New Madrid, which hits NYC twice: first at Bowery Ballroom on March 27 and then again at Brooklyn Bowl on April 11. Tickets for Bowery go on sale at noon on Friday (1/16) with an AmEx presale starting at noon on Wednesday (1/14), and tix for B Bowl go on sale at 10 AM on Friday.

NPR have posted their Top 50 Albums of 2014, and like it usually is, it's one of the more diverse year-end lists we've seen so far. There's a lot of the indie that shows up on many of these lists (The War On Drugs, St. Vincent, Spoon, Perfume Genius, Angel Olsen, etc), the hip hop (Run the Jewels, Freddie Gibbs & Madlib, YG, Isaiah Rashad, etc), the big-name pop (Taylor Swift, Mary J. Blige, Miranda Lambert), the metal (Pallbearer) and plenty of others, as well as classical, jazz, world music, a Latin funk band with an album's worth of Black Sabbath covers, and still more.

Tickets for the three Dillon Francisshows at Terminal 5 (moved from Barclays) go on sale today at noon. (All tickets for the 1/16 Barclays Center show will be honored at the 1/16 Terminal 5 show only.) Anamanaguchi are on the 1/16 & 1/17 shows, Bro Safari open all three.

Jeff Beck is playing The Capitol Theatre on April 18.Tickets for that show go on sale today at noon.

Wale and Doja Cat are playing Irving Plaza on January 10.Tickets for that show are on sale now.

Jamie T is playing MHOW on December 8.Tickets for that show are on sale now.

The Foreign Exchange (aka Phonte & Nicolay) are playing a Heineken Green Room-presented show at MHOW on December 10.RSVP by December 8 at 5pm to attend. "RSVP does not guarantee admittance, so arrive early, as entry will be first come first serve."

Happiness is the new-ish band (formed in fall of 2013) of Deer Tick members Ian O'Neil, Chris Ryan and Dennis Ryan with Rafay Rashid, singer of fellow Providence band, Ravi Shavi. They recently put out a three song EP which you can stream below.

Happiness will be in NYC for two shows this week, including a headlining gig at Brooklyn's Cameo tonight (6/5) with Virgin Forest (Phosphorescent's backing band) and Heaven's Jail Band, and then opening for Diamond Rugs side project Los Lobos at Highline Ballroom on Saturday (6/7). Tickets for the Cameo show and the Highline show are on sale now.

In related news, folk singer Jonah Tolchin is releasing a new album, Clover Lane, on July 1 via Yep Roc (his first for the label), which features Deer Tick's John McCauley, Los Lobos' Steve Berlin, Chris Scruggs (grandson of Earl), Mickey Raphael (of Willie Nelson's band), and more. He's also got a tour coming up, which hits NYC on June 29 at Rockwood Music Hall with Christopher Paul Stelling (tickets), July 9 at City Winery with Tom Paxton (sold out), and July 11 at The Bell House with Dave Alvin & Phil Alvin (tickets). That Bell House show is one of many dates Jonah is playing with The Alvin Brothers (both of The Blasters), who just put out Common Ground: Dave Alvin + Phil Alvin Play and Sing the Songs of Big Bill Broonzy on Yep Roc this week. You can stream that in full (via The New Yorker) and a track from Jonah's upcoming LP, with the full list of tour dates, below.

In related news, Aretha Franklin recently revealed in an interview with Rolling Stone that she plans to bring on Outkast's Andre 3000 as a producer for her new album which will feature covers of her favorite female singers, like Donna Summer, Barbra Streisand, and possibly Beyonce.

Another of the many festivals Outkast are reuniting for this year is Alabam's Hangout Music Festival, which goes down in Gulf Shores from May 16-18. The rest of the lineup is pretty impressive too, including The Black Keys, The Killers, Queens of the Stone Age, Modest Mouse, Flaming Lips, Conor Oberst, Tegan and Sara, Chance the Rapper, Andrew WK, Black Lips, Valerie June, Le1f, Diarrhea Planet and more.

Marissa Nadler @ Rough Trade
Dream-folk singer Marissa Nadler recently announced that she signed to Sacred Bones for her upcoming LP, and from the sounds of the haunting first single, she'll be right at home at that label. Hopefully we'll see hear some of that new stuff at this free in-store. 1 PM, no wristband necessary.

Television, Gambles @ Rough Trade
Back in action (though without guitarist Richard Lloyd), Tom Verlaine and the rest of Television play the second of two shows at the new Rough Trade NYC. With a new album in the can, expect new songs...and hopefully plenty of classics. Sold out.

bEEdEEgEE, Mas Ysa, Pictureplane (DJ) @ Glasslands
This is the live debut by Brian DeGraw's (of Gang Gang Dance) new solo project bEEdEEgEE, which is just as synthy and weird as much of GGD's stuff. Local indie pop guy Mas Ysa is on the bill too, and Pictureplane DJs.

Los Lobos @ City Winery
Celebrating their 40th anniversary, Mexican-American rock vets Los Lobos just released a live album, Deconstructed in New York, which was recorded at City Winery last year. They return to the venue for three sold-out nights, this being the first.

Eric Clapton is kicking off a major US tour in March, 2013 which will culminate in NYC with the two-night Crossroads Guitar Festival at Madison Square Garden from April 12 to 13. In addition to Clapton, the festival will feature a ton of other artists, including Allman Brother Band, Jeff Beck, BB King, Buddy Guy, Taj Mahal, Gary Clark Jr., Blake Mills, Los Lobos,Frank Ocean sidemanJohn Mayer, and many others.

The Terrace level at MSG will also host the "Guitar Center Road to Crossroads Exhibition," which will feature a number of historic guitars on display, memorabilia, archival footage, and interactive exhibits where fans can play products by Fender, Gibson, Ernie Ball, and Martin. The exhibition will open at 6:30 PM on 4/12 and 6 PM on 4/13, and is free to ticket holders.

Tickets for the festival go on sale Friday, November 30 at noon with a Chase (who is presenting the show) presale beginning Monday, November 26 at noon.

A list of all Clapton dates, the full Crossroads Guitar Festival lineup, and a video, are below.

Already packed when opener Robert Ellis went on around 3pm, the show also included a pre-shakes set by Diamond Rugswho headlined their own show (their first-ever in NYC) at the Bell House in Brooklyn on Friday night (and who play Letterman on Monday). As you may know by now, Diamond Rugs features members of Deer Tick, Dead Confederate, and Steve Berlin from Los Lobos.

Neil Young & Crazy Horse's new album Americana is out today (stream it in full HERE) and he's just announced a fall tour, part of which is with Patti Smith (Yes it's the Godfather of Grunge together with the Godmother of Punk). That tour brings Neil and Patti to NYC for a show at Madison Square Garden on November 27. Tickets to the MSG show go on sale June 10 at noon with a presale happening Friday, June 8 at 10AM.

Patti Smith also has a new album out today; it's called Banga and it's her first new album of original material since 2004's Trampin'. Check out a stream of the title track below (via Rolling Stone) and a spotify stream of the full album, along with a list of all dates and a video trailer for Neil Young's Americana.

As you know, BrooklynVegan is taking over ALL THREE STAGES at connecting Austin venues Hotel Vegas & Volstead for FOUR DAYS STRAIGHT this week, and it's all 100% FREE (no RSVP or badges either). There's a big outdoor stage, and smaller stages inside Hotel Vegas & Volstead. Collectively we're calling the four day long party "Hotel Vegan" (located at 1500 E. 6th St, Austin, TX).

We announced Wednesday and Thursday in full. Friday is coming. Now finally here isSaturday at Hotel Vegan (March 17, 2012)

For the 2nd year in a row, we've partnered up with our friends at Partisan Records and KF Records, and now the new Young One Records, to bring you a free Saturday blowout on three stages. This year we have an amazing lineup of 22 artists that includes a full stage of nothing but hip hop too.

Special thanks to all of our partners and sponsors for making this party possible - including Vox, Blackstar and Korg, our official backline partners, as well as ASCAP, HobNob Wines, The Original Moonshine, NadaMoo!, Honest Tea, Partisan Records, KF Records & Young One Records!

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This is just one of four full days at Hotel Vegan. Wednesday lineup HERE. Thursday lineup HERE. Friday coming in a second.

They have a record coming via Partisan Records (home of Deer Tick) in Spring 2012, and the band will play their debut show on 12/29 at The Earl in Atlanta with Dead Confederate. Tickets are still on sale. Flyer below.

The Earl performance is right before Los Lobos head to NYC to play a pair of shows on New Year's Eve at City Winery. Tickets are still available for both the early and the late shows. All Los Lobos dates below...

John McCauley of Deer Tick made it clear at last night's free BV-presented Brooklyn show that they weren't there to protest with the protesters of Occupy Wall Street. Nothing against Occupy Wall Street, but the band more importantly wanted to to help bring attention to the police brutality that is happening to the protesters at Wall St., because everyone has a right to protest.

Everyone also has the right to rock! And Deer Tick rocked for two hours at Willliamsburg venue Death By Audio, a DIY space that the now-Webster Hall-headlining band last played about three years ago. The all ages capacity crowd started lining up at 8pm, the place filled quickly, and the band (no opener) was on around 9. Without the pressure of playing to a paying audience, Deer Tick had fun and played their hearts out. They debuted many new songs live, played a bunch of covers, and lots of classics too. The sound was excellent and loud.

John McCauley has never been afraid of sharing the mic with guest singers, but the past couple of years have also seen Deer Tick increasingly showcasing the singing abilities of other permanent members of the band as well. Most notably, guitarist Ian O'Neil takes center stage at times, but drummer Dennis Ryan also gets to showcase his voice, like he did on one crowd favorite they tested out for the first time last night, that will appear on the band's new album Divine Providence (out 10/25).

One of the live sort-of-debuts wasn't a Deer Tick song, but one that will appear on an album by yet another supergroup side project. The crowd thought for sure John was talking about Middle Brother when he started to intro the song, but it quickly became apparent that in fact there is now a supergroup #2. Diamond Rugs is its name (Damn I Am On Drugs), and its members include Ian from Black Lips (who also have a Webster Hall show coming up), Hardy from Dead Confederate, Bryan Dufresne from Six Finger Satellite (who was at the show), Steve Berlin of Los Lobos, and John & Robbie from Deer Tick. The Diamond Rugs song they played is a Christmas song, which I called a "sort-of-debut" because it has been played in front of people at least once before (video from the Hamptons below). Stay tuned for more about Diamond Rugs.

To the delight of many who were shouting out requests, Deer Tick played a hard-hitting full band version of "Christ Jesus" and closed the set with the fast and fun Ramones-esque "Let's All Go To the Bar", complete with John McCauley stage dive.

The 2011 Latin Alternative Music Conference will be a part of NYC from July 6th-9th. Tonight (Wednesday, 7/6) is a big free show at Central Park Summerstage with "Spanish music icons Jarabe De Palo, Mexican songstress Ely Guerra, Afro-Peruvian electronica folk artist Novalima and Miami's DJ extraordinaire Mr. Pauer." Alternatively Mercury Lounge has a show too. Thursday, after the panels at the Roosevelt Hotel, are shows at SOB's (badge-holders only) and Bowery Ballroom. Friday, after more panels, is a big free Celebrate Brooklyn show at Prospect Park with Los Lobos and "Mexican indie rock sensation Hello Seahorse!, New York City's dreamy rock act Zigmat." Saturday is another big free show at Central Park Summerstage with "Afro-Colombian hip hop act ChocQuibTown, Dominican electro merengue act Rita Indiana, Brooklyn's funky multi-instrumentalist Ursula 1000 and New York City's dynamic DJ duo Uproot Andy and Geko Jones (of Que Bajo?!)." It all ends later that night at D'Antigua in Queens with "up and coming homegrown talent featuring Mexican Dubwiser, Elastic Bond, One Chot, Estados Alterados and Una Via" (or at the unofficial closing party back at SOB's).

Now the entire 2011 lineup of "24 free performances, including 20 music concerts, two dance performances, two film screenings with live music, and a family concert" is here! You can check it all out (The Feelies, Real Estate, The Books, Junip, Doveman, Justin Townes Earle, Punch Brothers, Raekwon, Oumou Sangaré, Times New Viking, Ra Ra Riot, Delicate Steve, Buke & Gass and Hal Willner included), below...

"Grammy Award winning roots-rock band Los Lobos has decided to cancel their scheduled performance at The Talking Stick Resort on June 10th, 2010. The band has made this decision based on the current call to boycott Arizona in response to SB 1070.

Through their management, Los Lobos issued the following statement: "We support the boycott of Arizona. The new law will inevitably lead to unfair racial profiling and possible abuse of people who just happen to look Latino. As a result, in good conscience, we could not see ourselves performing in Arizona. We regret the inconvenience this may have caused the Salt River Pima Maricopa Indian Community, Casino Arizona, Talking Stick Resort and our fans, but we feel strongly that it is the right thing to do."

The members of Los Lobos are Steve Berlin, David Hidalgo, Conrad Lozano, Cesar Rosas and Louie Perez."

The Mexican-American band are longtime supporters of immigration rights: Their 2006 LP The Town And The City touches on the subject pretty directly. When that album came out, this is what the band's Louie Perez has to say about the immigration issue...

Well, I can't ignore it. I don't think anyone can not be affected by it. Of course, Mexican-American people are more sensitive to it, but you just turn on the news at 11, I don't care where you live, you're going to know about what's going on.

I didn't set out for the record to be about immigration, but it started to go into that direction. I always go back to my neighborhood when I write songs, and in this case it was tempered by what was going on in the news. I was also thinking of the sacrifices my parents made when they came to the U.S. and the fact that if they hadn't crossed the border, I wouldn't be sitting here talking to you. I wouldn't have a career. I wouldn't have Grammys. I wouldn't have all these things that have happened in the spirit of the American dream.

Los Lobos will be releasing a new album, Tin Can Trust, on August 3rd through Shout! Factory. That's the artwork above. On that same Tuesday, they will play a record release show at Bowery Ballroom in NYC. Ticketsare on sale at noon.

Robert Plant is also coming out with a new album this year, a David Hidalgo-Louie Pérez song included...

Robert Plant takes an eclectic dive into Americana roots music on Band of Joy, his first new album since 2007's surprise hit, Raising Sand with Allison Krauss. The album was recorded in Nashville with an all-star group of musicians and is due Sept. 14 on Rounder Records.

Band of Joy finds Plant putting his unique stamp on a wide variety of source material, including versions of Los Lobos' "Angel Dance," "Silver Rider" and "Monkey," both by Minnesota indie "slowcore" band Low, and the Kelly Brothers' 1960s soul classic "Falling in Love Again." [The Star]

Los Lobos will be touring this summer across North America. All tour dates are below...

Lincoln Center's acclaimed series American Songbook returns in January for its twelfth season celebrating the diversity of American popular song. For 16 nights of pop, folk, cabaret, country, rock, and show tunes, the series will explore the best of the golden age of musical standards through to today's most dynamic contemporary songwriting. The 2010 season - January 13 through March 6 - will bring to the stage some of today's most gifted interpreters of song, including top jazz artist Dee Dee Bridgewater and rock's gritty queen, Marianne Faithfull. It will feature opportunities to hear the acclaimed stage actress Martha Plimpton and Broadway star Leslie Uggams in intimate concert settings. Two of the hottest composers on the theater scene - Jeanine Tesori ("Shrek The Musical" and "Caroline, or Change") and Michael Friedman "Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson" and "Gone Missing") - will perform evenings of their music along with special guests. The growing presence and influence of Latin music in the American Songbook canon will be represented by David Hidalgo and Louie Perez, two of the founding members of the band Los Lobos. Hidalgo and Perez will explore their four decades of writing and performing songs that are some of the best in Latin roots-rock. The series will close with an evening with one of Broadway's most enduring divas, the fabulous Chita Rivera.

American Songbook will be presented in the spectacular Allen Room of Frederick P. Rose Hall. The Allen Room possesses one of New York's greatest settings - a stunning vista of Central Park and the Manhattan skyline that provides an evocative backdrop for the performers.

TICKETS can be purchased online beginning November 1st at Lincoln Center's website AmericanSongbook.org, via CenterCharge at 212-721-6500, at the Avery Fisher Hall Box Office, or at the Frederick P. Rose Hall Box Office. Tickets for The Friends of American Songbook go on sale October 27th.

Suzanne Vega, Dirty Projectors, St. Vincent, Gabriel Kahane, and Nellie McKay are also playing shows as part of the series.

The Flaming Lips are playing a free show on Sunday, April 19th in the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The Earth Day Network/Green Apple Fest show also has moe., Los Lobos, DJ Spooky and others on the bill. Chevy Chase is acting as emcee, and the entire event will be streamed online, from 1-6pm that day, via EarthDayTV.net

Other cities, including New York, will also be hosting Green Apple Earth Day weekend events on April 17th - 19th. So far, the only official NYC concert planned is an Earth-Day-volunteer-only "thank you" show with Deep Banana Blackout at the Bowery Ballroom on Sunday, April 19th.

AC Newman's new solo album is out in January on Matador. Fellow Pornographer Neko Case's album "Middle Cyclone" will be released on March 3rd on Anti. Lots of special guests, etc. - all details abelow...